Second International Win for "Full Apologies," an Anti-Teen Drinking and Driving Campaign

HARRISBURG (Oct. 28, 2009) — "Full Apologies" — Neiman Group's multi-media campaign to combat teen drinking and driving, took a Silver Award at the prestigious 2009 4A's Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence. The winners were announced on Sept. 22 in New York City during Advertising Week 2009. This is the second international honor Neiman Group has received for the Full Apologies campaign. The campaign was awarded a Gold Pencil at the One Show Interactive presentations and Best of Show at the Philadelphia Addy Awards in the spring. The Jay Chiat Awards celebrate brilliant strategic thinking that clearly leads powerful creative expression. Neiman Group competed against renowned agencies with compelling causes in the social strategy category, beating out Grey London for its work with Women's Aid to put an end to domestic violence, and R/GA (New York) for its work with the Ad Council to educate teens on digital dating abuse. Other agencies recognized in the category include Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (San Francisco), JWT (Mumbai) and M&C Saatchi (London).

The Full Apologies campaign began when Neiman Group was challenged by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to find a better way to reduce teenage drinking and driving fatalities. Neiman Group's VP of Strategy & Insights Amy Muntz worked with research partner Battelle to interview hundreds of teens across Pennsylvania. The research produced a breakthrough insight: teens don't really believe they will die themselves. But the thought of killing a friend, and then having to live with the consequences, was real and something most teens never want to face. Muntz worked closely with one of Neiman Group's creative duos, Copywriter John Gilbert and Art Director Dave Spink, to use the insight to develop the emotional, impactful multi-media campaign called Full Apologies, found at FullApologies.com.

"The company that we're in with this award is unbelievably inspiring," said Muntz. "It certainly validates the importance of having planning services in our agency. At Neiman Group, we believe research-based planning is essential to develop compelling, effective campaigns. It reduces subjectivity and allows clients to have confidence they will achieve their objectives. The success of the Full Apologies campaign reflects a strong foundation in planning."

Executive Creative Director Hutson Kovanda believes the planning process of the campaign was as equally important as its creation and execution.

"The art of planning has become ever more pronounced in our industry,' said Kovanda. "Strategic planning gives creative teams research-based insights into the minds of consumers. It's completely integrated with everything we do. Invaluable planning efforts and a client that pushed us to think boldly resulted in gripping, award-winning work – something we, as an agency, should be proud of."

So what exactly came to fruition from the work done by Muntz and the creative team?

Neiman Group scoured the state for teenagers whose decision to drink and drive had taken someone's life. Some spoke anonymously, sharing their remorse and heartfelt apologies. These five stories became the foundation of FullApologies.com. Site visitors have the opportunity to make their own apology, for occasions when they drove drunk, or failed to stop someone else from doing so. This has turned out to be the site's most popular area. Visitors can also sign up to send text messages to themselves and their friends, reminding them at pivotal moments not to drink and drive.

The campaign was launched in May 2008 to coincide with prom season. In just six months, the site had had nearly half a million visitors and more than 4,000 visitors have posted their own apologies, linked to the site on their Facebook page or e-mailed the site to a friend.